September is Wills Month — a perfect time to get your affairs in order and think about the kind of legacy you want to leave. Most of us know we can leave gifts to family, friends, or favourite charities, but fewer realise a bequest can be structured to support the community long after we are gone. That option is endowment giving, and it quietly powers a great deal of good across the Western Bay of Plenty.

When you create an endowment fund with the Acorn Foundation, your gift is invested, not spent. The capital becomes part of a community nest egg, professionally managed so it grows over time. Each year, a portion of the investment earnings is granted to local organisations, while the rest is reinvested.

Your original gift stays intact, enabling grants to flow in perpetuity — one gift that keeps working for generations, whatever tomorrow brings.

• Your gift is protected and professionally invested so it grows over time.
   

• You choose what to support — name specific charities, a field of interest (such as youth development or conservation), or leave it unrestricted for future community needs.

• It’s flexible — you can update your preferences with Acorn at any time without rewriting your will.

• Grants stay local — our volunteer grants committee lives and works here, ensuring funds go where they’ll do the most good.